This is a post about four banquets: the divine coronation feast in Isaiah 25:6-10a, the sordid feast of Herod Antipas in Mark 6:14-29, the Feeding of the 5000 (Plus) in Mark 6:30-44, and the Holy Eucharist.

The reading from Isaiah 25 speaks of a time immediately after Yahweh has defeated pride, evil, and sorrow, and established the Kingdom of God, in its fullness, on the Earth. This is a time in our future. All people are welcome at Yahweh’s coronation feast, to take place on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem. All is well, except for those whom God has vanquished, namely the Moabites (25:10).

Our next two banquets, which stand is stark contrast to each other, come from Mark 6. The first is a sordid event, with Herod Antipas lusting after the seductive Salome (whose name and image come to us via archaeology, not the Bible) and making a hasty promise which leads to the execution of St. John the Baptist. The Herodian family tree was complicated, for both Herodias and her daughter, Salome, were granddaughters of Herod the Great via different women. Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great via a third woman, married Herodias, who had been the wife of a half-brother of Herod Antipas. Thus Salome was the step-daughter and a cousin of Herod Antipas.

I will not attempt to explain the Feeding the 5000 (Plus) rationally, for doing that constitutes seeking an answer to the wrong question. (And I am more of a rationalist than a mystic.) Neither will I try to explain Jesus walking on water (next in Mark 6) logically, for the same reason. No, I am interested in answering the question which compelled one of my spiritual mentors whenever he studied any passage of scripture:

What is really going on here?

The Markan account of the Feeding of the 5000 men (no word about the number of women and children) uses imagery from elsewhere in the Bible. Jesus is the Good Shepherd feeding the flock. His feeding of the multitude exceeds Elisha’s feeding of 100 men (2 Kings 4:42-44) and Elijah’s miracle of the refilling jug of oil (1 Kings 17:8-16). The messianic banquet, an echo of Isaiah 25:6-10a, recurs in the wilderness motif in subsequent pseudipigraphal works, such as in 2 Baruch 29:4 and 4 Ezra 6:52. Two main ideas stand out in my mind:

Jesus is greater than Elijah and Elisha (see Mark 6:15, in which some people thought that Jesus was Elijah), and

Nothing we bring to Jesus is inadequate in his capable hands. There will be leftovers after he has finished working with it. We are insufficient by ourselves yet more than sufficient in Christ. That is what grace can effect.

The eucharistic imagery in Mark 6 points to the fourth banquet, which I, as an Episcopalian, celebrate at least once weekly. The Holy Eucharist has constituted the core of my spiritual life since childhood. One reason I left the United Methodism of my youth was to have the opportunities to partake of the sacrament more often. In the Holy Eucharist I meet Jesus in the forms of bread and wine and swear loyalty to him again. No, I am not worthy on my merit (such as it is) to do this, but I rely on his merits to make me worthy to do so. The first step to becoming worthy is acknowledging one’s unworthiness.

The contrast between human systems built on the foundation of violence, exploitation, and oppression on one hand and the Kingdom of God on the other hand is clear. Injustice and artificial scarcity characterize the former, but justice and abundance for all distinguish the latter. We can experience a foretaste of the Kingdom of God, which is partially present already, but we await the fullness of the Kingdom. Until then we can, at least, leave the world better off than we found it. No effort toward this goal is too little in Christ’s capable hands.

Certain stories of Elisha resemble those of his mentor, Elijah, as an observant reader of the Books of Kings knows. And, as an observant reader of the Gospels and the Books of Kings knows, some of the miracle stories of Jesus echo certain accounts of incidents from the lives of Elijah and Elisha. Examples of these include raising people from the dead and feeding a multitude with a small amount of food. Those stories indicate, among other things, that the heroes were close to God and were able to meet the needs of people.

The Elisha stories for these days have him leave home, participate in helping his kingdom win a war against Moab, and render dangerous food safe. They portray him as an agent of the will of God.

The “will of God” is a phrase many people use improperly, even callously. I, as a student of history, know that various individuals have utilized it to justify the murder of priests of Baal (by the order of Elijah, in 1 Kings 18:40), blame innocent victims of natural disasters exasperated by human shortsightedness (such as God allegedly sending Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans or a devastating earthquake to Haiti, supposedly to smite evildoers in those places), et cetera. These misuses of the concept of the will of God offend my morality and make God seem like a thug at best.

We ought to exercise great caution using the phrase “the will of God,” for we might speak or write falsely of God and drive or keep people away from a Christian pilgrimage. This is a topic to approach seriously, not lightly. Among the most thoughtful treatments is Leslie D. Weatherhead’s The Will of God (1944), which speaks of three wills of God: intentional, circumstantial, and ultimate. That is deeper than some professing Christians want to delve into the issue, however.

I do not pretend to be an expert on the will of God, but I do attempt to be an intellectually honest Christian. I, as a Christian, claim to follow Jesus. To ask what he would do or would not do, therefore, is a relevant question when pondering issues of morality and the will of God. The four canonical Gospels are useful for these and other purposes. I conclude, therefore, that Jesus would not have ordered the deaths of priests of Baal or resorted to homophobia to explain the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. And I cannot conceive of Jesus agreeing with George Zimmerman that the death of Trayvon Martin was part of God’s plan and that wishing that Martin were alive is almost blasphemous. Zimmerman is a bad theologian.

Living according to compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, and love, per Colossians 3:12-14, is the best way to proceed. Doing so increases the probability that one will live as an agent of the will of God, whose love we see epitomized in Jesus. It is better to live rightly than to seek to be right in one’s opinion of oneself.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 5, 2015 COMMON ERA

EASTER SUNDAY, YEAR B

THE FEAST OF MILNER BALL, PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, LAW PROFESSOR, WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, AND HUMANITARIAN

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

2 Kings 4:8-22, 32-37 (September 6)

2 Kings 4:38-5:8 (September 7)

Psalm 85 (Morning–September 6)

Psalm 61 (Morning–September 7)

Psalms 25 and 40 (Evening–September 6)

Psalms 138 and 98 (Evening–September 7)

Ephesians 5:15-33 (September 6)

Ephesians 6:1-24 (September 7)

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Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

–Ephesians 5:21, Revised English Bible

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That is the verse upon which Ephesians 5:22-6:9 hangs. To read any portion thereof outside of the context of 5:21 is to distort the meaning of any of those verses. A common Christian expectation at the time was that Jesus might return next week or next month or next year, so a revolution in social structure or economic realities was not on the table; preparing for the Second Coming took precedence. Since Jesus has not returned by January 4, 2013, when I type these words, I propose that those are matters worthy of moral and theological consideration. To do so is to honor the Golden Rule.

I have kept the Ephesians readings together. In so doing, however, I have divided the story of Naaman. So be it; I will deal with that story in the next post in this series. But I have been able to pair advice from Ephesians with miracle stories involving Elisha. Many of those tales echo Elijah miracle stories, by the way.

I did notice a common thread involving women. The Shunammite woman needed her son for her financial security in her patriarchal society. But the text from Ephesians advises the mutual submission of wives and husbands to each other and both of them to Christ. Wives and husbands have sacred obligations to each other; they belong to each other. This is a beautiful teaching, even if patriarchy does stain it.

The Letter to the Ephesians, as scholars have noted, displays great unity. The end follows nicely from what precedes it: Act for the common good; build each other up. That was what Elijah did for the Shunammite woman. That is what we are called to do for each other today, where we are. The only situational aspect of this ethic is what the details will be.

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

2 Kings 2:19-25; 4:1-7

Psalm 116 (Morning)

Psalms 26 and 130 (Evening)

Ephesians 4:25-5:14

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Sometimes, when I read assigned Scriptural passages, I find at least one nice and happy theme which ties the lessons together. Other times, however, such as now, I find a contradiction instead.

The summary of Ephesians 4:25-5:14 is to behave constructively toward each other, building each other up, respecting each other, and not grieving the Holy Spirit. All of that is a unit. In contrast, bears maul–not kill, notes in The Jewish Study Bible tell me, as if that makes a difference–forty-two children who show great disrespect for Elisha by calling him bald. That story does not edify, does it? I will emphasize Ephesians 4:25-5:14, trying to live according to that standard instead.

In the spring of the year, the time when the kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said,

Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

So David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself form her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David,

I am with child.

So David sent word to Joab.

Send me Uriah the Hittite.

When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. Then David said to Uriah,

Go down to your house, and wash your feet.

And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David,

Uriah did not go down to his house,

David said to Uriah,

Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?

Uriah said to David,

The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.

Then David said to Uriah,

Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.

So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day, and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but did not go down to his house.

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote,

Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.

And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And men of the city came out and fought with Joab; and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite was slain also.

Psalm 14 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

All are corrupt and commit abominable acts;

there is none who does any good.

2 The LORD looks down from heaven upon us al,

to see if there is any who is wise,

if there is one who seeks after God.

3 Every one has proved faithless;

all alike have turned bad;

there is none who does good; no, not one.

4 Have they no knowledge, all those evildoers

who eat up my people like bread

and do not call upon the LORD?

5 See how they tremble with fear,

because God is in the company of the righteous.

6 Their aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted,

but the LORD is their refuge.

7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come out of Zion!

When the LORD restored the fortunes of his people,

Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.

FIRST READING AND PSALM: OPTION #2

2 Kings 4:42-44 (New Revised Standard Version):

A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said,

Give it to the people and let them eat.

But his servant said,

How can I set this before a hundred people?

So he repeated,

Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, “They shall eat and have some left.”

He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.

Psalm 145:10-19 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

10 All your works praise you, O LORD,

and all your faithful servants bless you.

11 They make known the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your power;

12 That the peoples may know of your power

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your dominion endures throughout all ages.

14 The LORD is faithful in all his words

and merciful in all his deeds.

15 The LORD upholds all those who fall;

he lifts up those who are bowed down.

16 The eyes of all wait upon you, O LORD,

and you give them their food in due season.

17 You open wide your hand

and satisfy the needs of every living creature.

18 The LORD is righteous in all his ways

and loving in all his works.

19 The LORD is near to those who call upon him,

to all who call upon him faithfully.

SECOND READING

Ephesians 3:14-21 (New Revised Standard Version):

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

GOSPEL READING

John 6:1-21 (Anchor Bible):

Later on Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee [to the shore] of Tiberias, but a large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. So Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near.

When Jesus looked up, he caught sight of a large crowd coming toward him; so he said to Philip,

Where shall we ever buy bread for these people to eat?

(Actually, of course, he was perfectly aware of what he was going to do, but he asked this to test Philip’s reaction.) He replied,

Not even with two hundred days’ wages could we buy enough loaves to give each of them a mouthful.

There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and a couple of dried fish, but what good is that for so many?

Jesus said,

Get the people to sit down.

Now the men numbered about five thousand, but there was plenty of grass there for them to find a seat. Jesus then took the loaves of bread, gave thanks, and passed them around to those sitting there; and he did the same with the dried fish–just as much as they wanted. When they had enough, he told his disciples,

Gather up the fragments that are left over so that nothing will perish.

And so they gathered twelve baskets full of fragments left over by those who had been fed with the five barley loaves.

Now when the people saw the sign[s] he had performed, they began to say,

This in undoubtedly the Prophet who is to come into the world.

With that Jesus realized that they would come and carry him off to make him king, so he fled back to the mountain alone.

As evening drew on, his [Jesus’] disciples came down to the sea. Having embarked, they were trying to cross the sea to Capernaum. By this time it was dark, and still Jesus had not joined them; moreover, with a strong wind blowing, the sea was becoming rough. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they sighted Jesus walking upon the sea, approaching the boat. They were frightened, but he told them,

It is I; do not be afraid.

So they wanted to take him into the boat, and suddenly the boat reached the shore toward which they had been going.

The Collect:

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Only one miracle story occurs on all four canonical Gospels. That is the feeding of the Five Thousand, with slight variations. Were there, for example, five thousand men (as Mark and Luke record the miracle), five thousand people (as John indicates), or five thousand men plus an uncounted number of women and children (as Matthew says)? All that is beside the point, for the accounts describe a staggering act of divine power and mercy.

Afterward, in John’s Gospel, the astonished crowd recognizes Jesus as a political messiah, so he and the Apostles leave the area. This (in the Johannine Gospel) sets the stage for Jesus walking on water, much to the astonishment of his Apostles. There is an accompanying storm for Jesus to calm in the Matthew and Mark accounts, but not here. Rather, the Johannine account emphasizes that Jesus is the incarnate I AM, not a political messiah.

Before I proceed further, I must acknowledge that I am drawing heavily from Father Raymond E. Brown’s Anchor Bible commentary on the Gospel of John. His depth of knowledge and extreme attention to details (He gets to John 6 on page 231 of Volume I.) are staggering. I can feast on this material for a long time to come.

Back to the Gospel of John….

There are obvious Eucharistic overtones in the Johannine account of the mass feeding. But how should we understand the walking on water? Brown, citing other sources, suggests a Passover image. Think about it: In both the Book of Exodus and in John 6 we find a water passage and the presence of unexpected food in close proximity to each other. And, in John, there is an explicit point of profound theology: JESUS IS THE PASSOVER LAMB. Thus we find Jesus dying on the cross as the sacrifice of animals occurs at the Temple. (In the Synoptic Gospels, however, Jesus is crucified on the next day.) The Last Supper, in the Synoptic Gospels, is a Passover meal. Yet, in the Johannine Gospel, JESUS IS THE PASSOVER MEAL. (See John 19:16b following.)

We encounter astounding theology in John 6. Who do we want Jesus to be, and why might we follow him? Do we week a national liberator or a Passover lamb? And what does our expectation indicate about us?